Casing cutting and pulling tool



Jan. 27, 1931. B. BARKIS 1,789,995

CASING CUTTING AND PULLING TOOL Filed Nov. 3, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Invezz/ar. Brucefiorflz's Jan. '27, 1931. B. BARKIS 1,789,995

CASING CUTTING AND PULLING TOOL Filed Nov. s, 1926 2 sneEns-sheet 2 Patented Jan. 27, 1931 BARKIS, GI HEBMGSA BEACH, CALIFORNIA CASING cur'rrna AND PULLING 12001.

Application filed November 3, 1926.' Serial No.145,9'25. I I

uis invention has generally; to do with pipe cutters or perforators; and as will be readily gathered from the following description, the invention may be utilized for cutting or perforating pipe in any situation.

. The preferred embodiment of the invention;

however, without thereby limiting the in vention, is herein explain a form of pipe cutting or pulling device adapted particularly for working on pipe in the well.

As applied more particnlarlyto cutting well pipe and the like, it is a general object of the invention to provide a device that is both efficient and reliable in its action. and also to provide a device that may be used no only for cutting through or cutting off a pipe, but also that may be used for pulling the pipe if so desired. j

Other objects of the invention will best appear throughout the following detailed description, together with the corresponding accomplishments and advantageous features.

For the purpose of the following detailed description of a preferred and specific form 2 embodying the invention, I referto the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fi 1 is longitudinal vertical section showing my'improved tool Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 2-2 so of Fig. 1; i I Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. l, but showing the operating parts in another operating position;

Fig. 4 is a crosssection on line H of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a similar horizontal section showing a modified structure.

In the drawings a barrel is shown at B equipped at its upper end with a threaded box 10 adapted to receive a hub 11 through which the tool may be connected to the lower end of the drill pipe or tubing or the like. The drill pipe shown at 12 may be taken to typify any hollow pipe by which the tool is suspended 46 and rotated and through which fluid under pressure may be introduced to the working parts of the tool.

Barrel B is preferably made of a size to fit the interior of a casing or pipe through Which-the tool is inserted and on-which the passage 16 there a'valve seat 160. on which tool is to operate. In practicethe exterior .llilcii:ifil' of barrel B will be enough less than the interior diameter of the pipe or casing C to allow the barrel to easily pass down. through the pipe. Inside barrel B is a plunger 9, the upper endo'f which may be fashionedas a piston 13 equipped at its upper end 1 with a cup leather 1 1-. Any suitable arrange ment maybe used on the piston to make a fluid tight joint between the piston and the wailot barrel'B, but a cup leatherv such as shown at 14, helddown by a ring 15, constitutes a practical means for that purpose. A valve controlled passage leads through pistonld, as shown at 16 and 17, the lower parts of the passage in the piston being divided to i'iornitwo passages 17a in order to straddle the upper end of mandrel 18 which depends from the lower face of the piston. WVithin 0 a ball valve 20 is adapted to seat downwardly,

-;a retaining ring 21 preventing the ball from lifting out of position. The ball and its seat form an upwardly opening valve controlling the passage through the piston, for purposes to be hereinafter described.

Plunger 9 also includes a downwardly pointing conical mandrel or wedge 18 which depends centrally'froin piston 13'and at its upper end this conical mandrel has a reduced portion 18a presenting an upwardly faclng shoulder 186. In the annular recess 180 thus formed above shoulder 186 a split collar 19 may be inserted if desired the collar being held in place by bolts or screws 19a.

At the lower end of barrel B there is an inwardly extending head flange 25 through the central opening 26 of which the mandrel 18 may move downwardly. Communicating with the interior of the barrel just above head flange 25 is a passage and there is also a port 28 through the wall of the barrel at such a distance above head flange 25 that this port 28 will be uncovered by the piston when the piston has reached its lowermost position. resting upon head flange 25, as is shown in Fig. 3. j

Below head flange 25 the barrel'has'a depending annular flange 29 within which the cutter carriers 30 are mounted. In the form ration or for pipe cutting.

shown in Figs. 1 to 4 these cutter carriers are illustrated as three in number, although they may be of any suitable number, and each carrier is pi votally mounted on a pivot pin 31. These pivot pins are set at their ends in head flange and in a head 32, head 32 being held to barrel B by suitable bolts or cap screws 88. Head 32 has a reduced portion 82c which extends upwardly inside flange 29 and the cutter carriers 30 are mov- V in the form of a cutting roller, as at 8 6, or a combination may be used as shown 1n Fig.

I as

down.

2. lVhen the cutter carriers are in their contracted positionsthe cutters are just within the circle of the exterior of the barrel and a stop lug 37 on each carrier rests back against an adjacent carrier near its pivot point, as shown in Fig. 2. Lugs 87 also present shoulders against which the contracting springs 38 are arranged to press. Flange-29 has openings 29a opposite each cutter and through which the cutters are projected as shown in Fig. 4.

The lower small end of mandrel 18 extends below cutter car iers 30. here it extends through the cutter carriers it engages with each of them on the surface 30a, these surfaces being preferably conoidalso as to give good bearings between the mandrel and the carriers. The small end of the wedge, when said wedge is in normal position of Fig. 1, thus establishes or predetermines the limit of inward or retractive movement of the cutters. It will be notedthat collar 19 is of less diameterthan that of the large end of the -wedge and of greater diameter than the smaller end of the wedge and'that, when it is applied to the mandrel, its peripherial face 196 defines the effective bottom of recess 180. At the lower end of the mandrel below the carriers there is a spring seat 40 against which a compression spring 41 presses upwardly, this compression spring being preferably only strong enough to hold the mandrel and piston upwardly when there is no unbalanced pressure pressing the piston Spring 41 isenclosed within a. tube 42 screw threaded at its upper end into head 32, tube 42 being closed at its end by a cap 43 which forms the seat for the spring Spring seat 40 traveling in tube 42 also forms a guide for the lower end of the mandrel.

In using my improved device it is lowered into the pipe in the condition shown in Fig.

l, the drill pipe or tubing being lowered until parts is shown in Figs. 8 and 4.

cred.

the tool has reached the point where it is desired to operate on the pipe. Ifthere is fluid standing in the well, as is usually the case, it is desirable to allow that fluid entry to the interior of the drill pipe or tubing because otherwise at any substantial depth the drill pipe or tubing would become so buoyant that the whole string would have to be forced down. As the deviceis lowered in the well the fluid in the well can pass inwardly through openings 27 and 28 into the barrel and thence upwardly through the piston pas sages, past valve 20 and up into the tubing or drill pipe, thus keeping the liquid level in the tubing or drill pipe at the height of the liquid level outside, Furthermore, this free passage of the liquid keeps pressures on piston 13 equalized at all times and prevents any heavy unequalized pressure on the lower face of the piston.

Having arrived at the point where it is desired to operate on the pipe or casing, a

suitable pump pressure is then put upon the liquid within the drill pipe or tubing, in the manner well known to the art. Pressure is thus exerted upon the upper face of the piston and the piston is moved down, moving mandrel l8 downwardly and expanding or radially projecting the cutters against the inner face of the pipe. If it is desired merely to perforate through the pipe the device need not be rotated; but in the typical instance of completely cutting ofi a part of the pipe the whole device is rotated through the medium of the'drill pipe or tube at the same time that the piston and mandrel are forced down by pressure. Keeping suitable-pressure upon the piston, and rotating the whole dev1ce, the cutters cut outwardly through the pipe C until they have cut clear through the pipe and project on its exterior. This position of When the cutters have reached their positions where they have cut clear through thepipehaving reached their most expanded positions, the mandrel 18 is in a position just above that shown in Fig. 3, the upper end of the mandrel holding the cutter carriers outwardly as will be readily understood. As the piston reaches the position shown in Fig. 8 it un covers port 28 so that pressure above the piston is relieved by port 28, and when the piston reaches its lowermost position, as shown in Fig. 3, then-port 28 is fully uncov- After the lower edge of the piston has passed port-28 the passage 27 allows escape of the liquidtrapped below the piston. Opening of port 28 when the piston has reached its lowermost position, or nearly its lowermost position, causes a drop in pressure in the tube or well pipe, and that drop in pressure observed at the top of the well is'the signal that the tool is fully expanded and the cutting operation completed. However, the

escapeof fluid through port 28 is not 'fast"1 shown in Fig. der 18!) of mandrel 18 has passed cutter carenough to relieve all pressure from above the piston, so that continuance of the pump pressure above the piston will force the piston on downwardly to its lowermost position as 8. in this position the shout riers and the cutter carriers have sprung inwardly over shoulder 185. If the removable collar 19 is in place as shown in Fig. 3, v

the cutter carriers spring inwardly only a short distance, bringing up against collarll). Since collar 19 is of greater diameter than the small end of the wedge, it serves to hold the cutters from the movement inwardly to their positions of full retraction. In this )osition of the narts the cutters still )ro'ect through the pipe and the cutter carriers lock mandrel 18 down by their engagement with shoulder 18?). Consequently, the whole dev'ee is locked in the position shown in Fig. 3, with the cutters extending outwardly under the piece of pipe that has been cut from the pipe below, and the upper piece may "hen. be pulled by hoisting the tool through the medium of the drill pipe or tubing.

If it is not desired to hoist. the severed piece of pipe with the tool itself, split collar 19 is removed from the position shown in the drawings, so that when the mandrel has reached its lowermost position and thecutter car 'iers spring in over shoulder 186, the carriers and their cutters are then contracted to the same contracted position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the reduced portion 18a of mandrel 18 being substantially of the same diameter as the lower small end of the mandrel which normally lies between the cutter can riers when the cutters are contracted. With the cutter carriers so contracted about 18w, the tool can then be lifted out of the well without pulling the severed piece of pipe.

There is an advantage in contracting the cutters with the mandrel at its lowermost position. The cutters of course could be contracted by moving the conical mandrel upwardly, to put the parts back in the relative positions shown in Fig. 1. But such an operation depends upon the action of spring 4:1 and cannot be infallibly depended upon. The tool may be somewhat stuck with mud so that spring l-l cannot move mandrel 18 upwardly; but no matter how di'fiicult the tool may operate due to the presence of mud, etc., a liquid pressure can be brought to bear upon the face of the piston to make it move down to its lowermost position withoutfail.

The advantages of the tool lie largely in its positiveness of action. The cutters are positively forced out against the pipe, being solidly backed by the mandrel 18. The amount of pressure on the cutters can easily be regulated by control of the liquid pressure at the top of the well. lVhen the cutters have cut through the casing, and as the piston goes to its lowermost position, pressure is relieved,

giving a signal at the top of the well, and

ters outwardly, further rotation (in a. right hand direction in Fig. 2) will'cause the cutters to swing back on their pivots. And usu-.

ally rotation of the tool will not be stopped until after the mandrel has reached its lowermost position; So, if springs 38 for any reason should fail to throw the cutter carriers inwardly over shoulder 18?), rotation of the tool after the mandrel has reached its lowermost position will do the same thing.

As I have stated before, and depending upon whether collar 19 is used or not, the cutters are positively'finally thrown either to a position to extend under the severedpiece of pipe or to a fully contracted position,-and this action is positive and dependable. Us-

ing the outer locking position of the cutters it isan advantageous feature of my tool that 'pipe can be cut and pulled by the same series of operations. In either case, the mandrel piston are locked in lower position, and

in this position port 28 is uncovered above the piston to allow escape of fluid from the drill pipe or tubing as the tool is hoisted.

Fig. 5 shows a modified arrangement of the cutter carriers wherein the cutter carriers are radially movable instead of pivotally movable. Here thecutter carriers 30c'slide i radially between guide blocks 50. The cutters 35 and 36 may be the sameas before described. The springs 380 for contracting the cutter carriers may be arranged as shown in Fig. 5, each spring acting upon two cutter carr ers at its opposite ends. These sliding said carriers into the recess. 1

2. In an expanslve tool of the character described, the combination of a transversely movable cutter carrier and a longitudinally movable wedge member engaging said cutter carrier and adapted to wedge it outwardly cutter carriers may be used, if desired, in-

by virtue of its longitudinal movement, the wedge member having at its larger end a re cessed portion into which the carrier may move inwardly, and a removable filler for said recessed portion to limit inward move ment of said carrier.

3. An expansive tool of the character described, com rising a vertical barrel adapt-ed at its upper end to be connected to a pipe,ra vertically movable piston in said barrel, a conical wedge member depending from said piston with its smaller end lowermost, a plurality of expansive transversely movable cutter carriers mounted in the barrel in a plane near the normal position of the lower smaller riers may move inwardly,thewedge havingan upwardly facing shoulder immediately below said recessed portion and'over which upwardly facing shoulder the cutter carriers move inwardly to lock said wedge in its lowermost position, and a removable collar fitting in said recessed portion to limit inward V movement of said carriers.

4. An expansive tool of the character described, comprising a vertical barrel adapted at its upper end to be connected to a pipe, a vertically movable piston. in said barrel, a conical wedge member depending from'said piston with its smaller end lowermost, a plurality of expansive transver ely movable cutter carriers mounted in the barrel in a plane near the normal position of the lower smaller end of the conical wed e, said wedge entering between the several cutter carriers and adapted upon downward movement to force said cutter carriers outwardly,'and a recessed portion at the upper end of said wedge under the piston and into which the cutter carriers may move inwardly,the wedge having an upwardly facing shoulder imme diately below said recessed portion and over which upwardly facing shoulder the cutter carriers move inwardly to lock said wedge in.

its lowermost position, and a removable collar adapted to partially fill said recessed portion so as to leave exposed the outer edge of said upwardly facing shoulder and to limit inward movement of said carriers.

5. An expansive tool of the character described, comprising a substantially cylindric barrel adapted at its upper end to be connected to a pipe, a piston vertically movable in the barrel and adapted to be moved downwardly by fluid pressure applied from the pipe,a depending wedge mounted on the under side of the piston with its small end downwardly, a transversely movable cutter carrier mounted in the barrel and engageable bythe wedgeto be moved transversely outwardly by downward movement of the wedge, a vertical tube mounted on the lower end of the barrel, the lower end of the wedge having a spring seat member vertically movable in said tube and forming a guide for the lower end of the wedge, and a spring in Q so 

